The Sun Shines on the Jungle

THE SUN SHINES IN THE JUNGLE is a lift-the-flap board book that is intended to introduce the food chain to toddlers and preschoolers. The story begins with the sun shining, and the plants reaching for the sun. Next, some beetles eat the plants before spiders eat the beetles. It continues on until a python eats a pig, and then it goes to an elephant who eats grass.

What I loved: The illustrations are full of details and colors, and there is a lot to look at on each page. The text is simple and brief, presenting the facts along the way with a clear building of the food chain. The flaps themselves are reasonably sturdy and built into the book to help with rougher readers.

What left me wanting more: The flaps lift over the animals stomachs to show the other animals (intact) inside their stomachs, which is certainly a way to show that they are eating each other. I am not sure about this concept for this age group, and this will likely be a caregiver choice - children may not fully grasp the meaning of this and so it may not bother them as much.

Final verdict: THE SUN SHINES IN THE JUNGLE is a lift-the-flap book about the food chain which may work well for some young children.